A 90th-Birthday Tribute to Gary Graffman (’46)

Biographies

Giancarlo GuerreroConductor

Giancarlo Guerrero is the music director of the Nashville Symphony and the Wrocław Philharmonic, and principal guest conductor of the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon. A passionate proponent of new music, he has championed the works of several of America’s most respected composers and has presented eight world premieres with the Nashville Symphony, several of which were released as recordings. He developed and guided the creation of Nashville Symphony’s Composer Lab and Workshop initiative, together with composer Aaron Jay Kernis, to further foster and promote new American orchestral music. Mr. Guerrero’s recent guest conducting engagements include the Boston, Detroit, Queensland, and Sydney symphony orchestras; the Cleveland Orchestra; the Brussels Philharmonic; and the Residentie Orchestra in the Hague.

He has appeared with many of the prominent North American orchestras, including those of Baltimore, Cincinnati, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Montreal, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. In Europe he has appeared with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony; the Brussels, London, and Netherland philharmonics, and the radio philharmonic orchestras of France and Germany. He was principal guest conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra Miami from 2011 to 2016, and music director of the Eugene Symphony from 2002 to 2009.

Mr. Guerrero made his debut with Houston Grand Opera in 2015 conducting Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. For the Costa Rican Lyric Opera, he has conducted Carmen, La bohème, and Rigoletto. In 2008 he gave the Australian premiere of Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar at the Adelaide Festival.

Haochen ZhangPiano

Since winning the gold medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009, Haochen Zhang has captivated audiences with a unique combination of deep musical sensitivity, fearless imagination, and spectacular virtuosity. In 2017 he received the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Highlights of Mr. Zhang’s 2017–18 season included his recital debut at Carnegie Hall and performances with the China and Taiwan philharmonics; the California, Guangzhou, and Lahti symphony orchestras; the Shenzhen Concert Hall’s 10th Anniversary Gala; and a Chinese New Year concert with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich. He has also appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra; the Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Los Angeles, and Munich philharmonics; the Kansas City, London, Pacific, San Francisco, Seattle, Singapore, and Sydney symphony orchestras; and the Mariinsky Orchestra. An avid chamber musician, he has participated in the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and La Jolla Summerfest.

This season, Mr. Zhang gives recitals in Mexico City, Madrid, and Boston, among other venues; and debuts with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. His latest CD, released by BIS in 2017, includes works by Schumann, Brahms, Janácek, and Liszt. His performances at the Van Cliburn Competition were released by Harmonia Mundi in 2009.

Mr. Zhang is a 2012 graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Gary Graffman.

Yue BaoConducting Fellow

Yue Bao, from Shanghai, entered the Curtis Institute of Music in 2017. As a conducting fellow, she works closely with Curtis mentor conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra. All students at Curtis receive merit-based, full-tuition scholarships, and Ms. Bao is the Rita E. Hauser Conducting Fellow.

Ms. Bao was the student conductor of the Mannes Orchestra from 2014 to 2016. She has appeared as a guest conductor with the Shanghai Opera Symphony Orchestra, the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Shanghai Nanyang School Symphony. She served as a cover conductor for the Bufflo Philharmonic Orchestra as a Julius Rudel Fellow in 2015. She was a 2016 Conducting Fellow with the New Symphony Orchestra in Sofia, Bulgaria, and a 2015 Conducting Fellow with the Eastern Festival Orchestra in Greensboro, N.C.

Ms. Bao holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Shanghai Conservatory and a Master of Music degree from the Mannes School of Music, both in orchestral conducting. Her former teachers are David Hayes and XiaoOu Zhao. Ms. Bao is also a pianist and composer.